Woman's 'lucky' find inside egg in beach shallows: 'What an honour'
She captured the 'beautiful', once in a lifetime moment on video.
A woman exploring tidal pools has witnessed one of the most "beautiful" events after saving a baby shark she found in its egg out of the water.
The aquarium manager living on Catalina Island in the US came across a spiral shark egg "exposed to air" while walking across the rocks. She could see it was "no longer sealed" so thought the shark had either hatched or passed away. But on closer inspection, she saw a little face. "When I peeked inside, I saw the tiniest shark face looking at me," Cindy said online.
Not sure if the baby shark was alive, Cindy ran to the water and helped open the egg to break it free — then after a few seconds, it began to move. She filmed the stunning sight as she released the newborn into the big ocean world. "One of the most beautiful moments I’ve been lucky to share," she said of being able to help deliver a baby shark.
People from around the world have since gone crazy for the TikTok video, sharing how "magical" the moment was. "That is so magical and special what an honour," one person said.
"Such a beautiful experience. I am glad you knew what to do for it," replied another.
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A baby horn shark
Cindy identified it as a horn shark because of its colouring and shape — including the recognisable ridges over the eyes.
According to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation horn sharks are smaller, solitary sharks that are known for their spiral-shaped egg cases.
Despite their small size, horn sharks have the "greatest known bite force of any shark relative to its size" and use that force to grab and crush prey they find along the sea floor.
The Shark Research Institute says horn shark adults are usually found on shallow rocky reefs or algal beds around the western coast of North America from California to the Gulf of California
Horn sharks are oviparous, which means they lay eggs that hatch outside of their mother’s womb. The spiral egg case can be wedged into small cracks and crevices by the female shark to hide them from potential predators. Each egg contains one shark baby and takes between six and nine months to hatch.
Australia has sharks from the same family
The horn shark is from the heterodontidae family which consists of nine species, all with large heads and distinctive ridges over the eyes according to Fishes of Australia. Australia has three species from this shark family found in Australian waters, including the Port Jackson shark.
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